The invention relates to a method and equipment allocating industrial or technical resources within technical systems, in particular for the purpose of precluding technical system malfunctions.
As regards many technical systems, and depending on their configuration or operation, there is only limited availability of industrial or technical resources. For instance in a communications network where the subscribers are coupled by junction points, only a limited number of transmission lines are available to connect said junction points through which the subscribers communicate with each other. On account of overloads in portions of this network, operational circumstances may arise in it which shall render impossible its desired operation to transmit data from one arbitrary subscriber station to another. As a consequence of such network malfunctions, its data transmissions may over some time be impossible or at less than the required reliability.
Such malfunctioning may be averted in that the resources present in the technical system shall be allocated in a manner assuring the desired operability.
Illustratively network resources allocation may be implemented in such manner that, upon reaching a given system state, for instance a given data flow, additional transmission lines are inserted in particular network junction points or in the whole network in order to make available additional capacity for data transmission between individual junction points.
Resources also may be allocated in such a way that when reaching a maximum data flow, the just-operable network shall be blocked as a whole or at individual junction points against hookup to further subscribers until the transmissions of data to other subscribers has been completed and are shut off the network. In this manner those subscribers which at the time of network blocking had been hooked up to it are able to transmit data to any other subscriber.
The European patent document 0,248,812 B1 discloses a method allocating industrial or technical resources which illustratively may be applied in resource allocation in communications networks.
The objective of the invention is to create a method allocating industrial or technical resources in technical systems, said method being easily implemented and operationally reliable.
This problem is solved by the features of claim 1.
The disclosure of the present invention starts from the basic insight that in a technical system of which the operational state is denoted by parameters, for instance the operational state of a communications network, the data transmission rates at the individual junction points permit assigning different relevancies to the particular parameters with respect to system operability. If the function of a communications network for instance is to enable data transmission at any time between any subscribers, operational states may arise at which one or more network junction points are xe2x80x9coverloadedxe2x80x9d, that is, the data transmission rates at said junction points have reached or exceeded a given data-transmission threshold value, without degrading the network""s data transmission ability between arbitrary subscribers at all times.
On the other hand other operational states may arise in the network, again involving overloaded junction points, in which network operability is degraded, that is, data transmission between arbitrary subscribers no longer shall be feasible at any time.
In the light of the above, the concept of the invention is to determine a gauge of the effects of the individual parameters on system operability.
Accordingly the invention starts from a further insight that it suffices, when ascertaining the effects of the particular system operability parameters, to classify said parameters according to a given parameter value having been reached. Illustratively it may be enough in a communications network to classify the data flows at the individual junction points according to a given threshold value being unattained (xe2x80x9cnetwork junction point at admissible loadxe2x80x9d) or being exceeded (xe2x80x9cnetwork junction point overloadedxe2x80x9d).
Moreover the invention is based one the concept to record operational system states having attained a predetermined system function, for instance that data transmission is feasible between two arbitrary subscribers in a communications network, in the form of instantaneous parameter values such as xe2x80x9cjunction point is operating at normal loadxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cjunction point is operating at excess loadxe2x80x9d. and to compare pairwise the operational states so recorded in order to gauge therefrom the effects of the individual parameters on system operability.
Once the effects of individual parameters on system operability have been ascertained, the system resources can be allocated in such a way that a predetermined system function always shall be attained or be set as a goal.
After gauging the effects of the individual network junction points on the function of the communications network have been ascertained, hence once the relevance of the particular network junction points to network operability is known, the network can be kept at a given operational state, for instance by switching ON or OFF additional transmission lines, because the desired system function shall have been attained.
If for instance it is known that an individual or several network junction points is/are especially relevant to network operability, whereas other network junction points are less so, then additional transmission lines selectively switched ON or OFF by a control unit may be used in the area of the more relevant network junction points, whereas, in the area of the less relevant network junction points, such additional transmission lines will not be needed.
If during network operation sensors determine that the data transmission rate at the more relevant junction points regarding operability approaches a threshold value at which system operability is likely to be lost, then, before reaching such a threshold value, the additional transmission lines in the area of the particular junction point can be switched ON, and, after the data transmission rate drops below a predetermined value, can be shut OFF.
In this manner the method of the invention allows quick and efficient allocation of resources in a technical system.
Malfunctions in such systems can be reliably averted by means of the quick and efficient allocation of the method of the invention of resources in a technical system.
The method of the invention is applicable to arbitrary systems, for instance to control resources in communications networks, data processing equipment, pattern-recognition systems, in the control of automated vehicles in plants, etc.
Advantageous and appropriate developments of the disclosure of the invention are stated in the sub-claims.